Is Howard SIRI?

My opinion is "yes", and SIRI will die from it.

We witnessed what happened today.

Now for the future. Will Howard want a sweeter deal yet, a deal SIRI really can't afford? Does Howard subscribe to the belief that if he's worth $100 MM a year now, that only a chump would sign for less?

Will he find another medium like www.howardstern.com where he can stream both his live show AND his On Demand video to HIS subscribers whilst leaving SIRI behind to rot in the desert sun? Then he can sign other distribution deals for additional outlets.

Howard is loyal; we know that. But he's not loyal to any of us common shareholders. I think he's gone.

most likely not all "dedicated" subs for howard, meaning they listen to other channels.

thoughts?

Great facts! I agree that there is overlap as I am one of them. I have 3 subs (previously 4 until my $400 Stilleto shit the bed (sometimes it doesn't pay to be an early adopter!)). If Howard left, we (wife and I) might keep one. We've kind of grown on Spectrum and Coffeehouse on the weekends, but clearly the draw is Howard.

SIRI can't lose the magnitude of subs you cite above. It's going to be interesting.

Howard is loyal; we know that. But he's not loyal to any of us common shareholders. I think he's gone.

What happened today shows me that he is not loyal.

Although, Bubba did say those guys were ridiculously cheap pains in the asses so maybe management was really screwing him on something. I just dont see how wanting more money here helps him or the company. The only way this helps is if this is all a big game that can be resolved by next friday, anything longer then that just pisses off subscribers and lets too much negative press loose. Recovering from that app store rating they have right now wont be easy.

sxm is the only in car solution available that brings premium content to the driver and passengers for people who don't have the tech savvy to hook up a bunch of wires or signals.

My wife has 36 XM channels programmed into her new car and not one is howard or o&a. all of this talk about howard being the end all is absolute bull shit. 90% (unofficial #) of all the websites that mention howard end up with comments that say howard is old and lost...(i don't agree with this, his show is excellent, the point is there are another 100million plus people beside the 6 million or whatever that listen to howard.)

I listen to howard, howard is great but you know what...I listen to hip hop nation and shade 45 for 6 or more hours out of the day.

I am not diminishing the fact that Howard is a big draw, but he is not the live or die of SIRI.
There are many, many more people that would prefer other content than Howard. And would be willing to pay for it.

Howard pulls through a great deal of subs, no doubt. But to say that those subs could not be replaced or exceeded with various other content offers is short sighted. If SIRI had to acquiesce its entire existence on HS then there would have been no need for a merger. The company with HS should have beat the crap out of the competition.

Now if SIRI cannot come up with new and innovative content, then yes they are doomed. But I am willing to bet that new content will begin to develop just like HBO and Showtime did for themselves. Remember they use to just deliver content, then they started producing it themselves.

Howard pulls through a great deal of subs, no doubt. But to say that those subs could not be replaced or exceeded with various other content offers is short sighted. If SIRI had to acquiesce its entire existence on HS then there would have been no need for a merger. The company with HS should have beat the crap out of the competition.

I don't listen to his show enough to know if he still has his heart in it. But even if he no longer wanted to do his show everyday, I can't see him walking away from it completely. At the very least he would continue to have a branded channel "produced" by him with all of the 100 and 101 talent. (Shade 45) and maybe pop in from time to time. The move to satellite radio was an iconic point in his career, I can't see him turning his back on it.

On a side note, whats that 60-percent-of-all-satellite-subscribers-are-listening-to-Howard-figure that gets thrown around? I see it attributed back to Howard saying it on his show, but is that just him talking out of his ass or was there some kind of research done to back it up.

I don't listen to his show enough to know if he still has his heart in it. But even if he no longer wanted to do his show everyday, I can't see him walking away from it completely. At the very least he would continue to have a branded channel "produced" by him with all of the 100 and 101 talent. (Shade 45) and maybe pop in from time to time. The move to satellite radio was an iconic point in his career, I can't see him turning his back on it.

On a side note, whats that 60-percent-of-all-satellite-subscribers-are-listening-to-Howard-figure that gets thrown around? I see it attributed back to Howard saying it on his show, but is that just him talking out of his ass or was there some kind of research done to back it up.

I don't question his heart; I think it's about his wallet, and the scenario I first noted above is all about his wallet. SIRI can't pay him more.